The International Storytelling Center is pleased to announce that Kiran Singh Sirah will be the keynote speaker at Dolly Parton’s upcoming Imagination Library Plenary, Homecomin’, a three-day conference at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort & Spa in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Founded in 1995, the Imagination Library began as a program to promote literacy in East Tennessee, and has since grown to provide free books for children all over the world. Each month, kids who are enrolled in the program receive a free book in the mail—a gift that sparks a lifelong love of reading and stories.

The conference is held every two years as an opportunity for Imagination Library affiliates from the US, Canada, and the UK to share ideas, plan, and network. Affiliates are the Imagination Library’s ambassadors and champions, helping to share the power of stories around the country and abroad.

ISC has had a special partnership with Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort & Spa since 2014. The resort was named ISC’s first Site of Excellence in 2016 in recognition of its commitment to weaving the art of storytelling into the fabric of its services, training, facilities, and cultural offerings. “The Site of Excellence designation means that DreamMore truly values storytelling as a relationship-growing tool,” Sirah says. “The Imagination Library is just another example of why it’s a natural partnership. We see reading and storytelling as part of the same family.”

Sirah’s keynote speech will take place on the evening of June 19th, and he will lead a workshop at the conference later in the week.